NAOMI Thriepland was caught with £172,000 of drugs hidden in her BMW convertible at the entrance to the Channel Tunnel in France.

A FORMER soldier who served tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq has been jailed for drug smuggling.

Ex-Lance Corporal Naomi Thriepland, 25, even used her seven-year-old daughter as a cover, telling customs officials they had been to Disneyland Paris.

But when British officers searched the 25-year-old’s BMW convertible at the entrance to the Channel Tunnel in France, they found drugs worth £172,000 hidden inside the fold-down roof.

In 2009, TV viewers saw Thriepland’s daughter Aiesha crying when she was given the chance to speak to her mum via satellite link from the GMTV sofa. But the full story of the respected soldier’s fall from grace was revealed on Monday when she was jailed for four years at Canterbury Crown Court, Kent, after admitting drug smuggling.

South West News

TV viewers saw her talking to her daughter on GMTV

Thriepland, who is four months pregnant, will now give birth to her second child behind bars.

The court heard how she had been attached to a bomb disposal unit with the Grenadier Guards during her six-year career. But, after leaving the Army, she struggled to make ends meet on her £100 a week pay as a trainee beautician.

She accepted £8000 to drive to Amsterdam and load up with 3.44kg of heroin and 12kg of cutting agents caffeine and paracetamol, but was stopped by customs on December 5, 2011.

Jailing her, Judge Heather Norton said: “You made that trip in order to plan the drug smuggling run, and you did what you did for financial gain. More than that, you took your child with you, putting that child at risk.

“You claim you became a courier to give her a better life but that child is now likely to suffer more than you.”

Thriepland broke down in tears when the judge, praising her Army career, added: “You have served this country with a number of tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and in perilous positions, so whatever else can be said about you, this was certainly out of character.”

Thriepland, from Dalton-in-Furness, Cumbria, denied making previous drug runs to Europe but admitted she had made a “dummy run” a month earlier.

Christopher Baur, defending, told the court she had not acted in “malice or wickedness but rather stupidity and with an element of greed” and she wanted “better conditions for her child”.

He said: “She naturally regrets her involvement and she has shown remorse. She clearly did not think through the dangers or the harmful effects on potential users of the drugs.

“The child is now living with an aunt and Thriepland is 16 weeks pregnant. She is in a long-term relationship with the child’s father. The situation she finds herself in is dire because she wasn’t coerced into it but neither was she a major player in the enterprise. She was quite naive.”

Malcolm Bragg, from the Border Force, said yesterday: “Drug trafficking is a serious offence. Officers will continue to work diligently to make life as tough as possible for those who seek to profit from this evil trade.”